VZCZCXRO1041
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1236/01 3101007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061007Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0941
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0560
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001236 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND MZ SCUL EINV
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE HOPING TO CASH IN ON WORLD 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: Less than 250 days to the FIFA Soccer 
World Cup in South Africa, the largest event to be held on 
the African continent. Mozambique's preparations for the 
World Cup highlight the country's progress, or lack thereof, 
on a number of developmental challenges, including a lack of 
resources to market the country, a lack of hotel and practice 
space, an incomplete stadium, one stop border post and 
international airport. The GRM is using the World Cup to 
prepare for the 2011 All-Africa Games to be hosted in Maputo. 
 
------------------------ 
2010 NATIONAL STRATEGY 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  PolOff met with Isabel Maria Estevao Macie, 
Advisor to Ministry of Tourism on World Cup, on 30 September. 
 The GRM, led by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of 
Sports, drafted and are now implementing a 2010 National 
Strategy for the national cabinet.  The goals of the National 
Strategy includes enhancing the image of Mozambique as a 
tourist destination, upgrading sport facilities and tourism 
infrastructure to attract World Cup-qualified teams, provide 
long-term socio-economic and cultural benefits to the local 
population and attract foreign investment.  Tourism and 
Sports Ministries hold regular meetings with 15 commissions 
to implement the National Strategy. Macie noted that each 
commission is carrying our action plans with varying degrees 
of success.  Some activities require private sector action, 
but she said the private sector does not want to take the 
risk since they are unsure how many World Cup tourists will 
visit Mozambique. 
 
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POSSIBLE WORLD CUP TOURIST DESTINATION 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Marketing Mozambique as a World Cup tourist 
destination has been slow and hindered by a lack of funding. 
A brochure published by the Ministry of Tourism called, "10 
Reasons Why Mozambique Must Be Your Destination of Choice for 
2010" makes an appealing case, but a lack of funds to print 
the brochure and distribute them in key markets, border 
posts, and on the country's national airline have slowed down 
the marketing campaign.  The brochure notes the close 
proximity Mozambique is to three host cities; Johannesburg, 
Durban and Nelspruit, as well as Indian Ocean beaches, water 
activities and the unique blend of culture.  Macie also noted 
that unlike South Africa, Mozambique is warm during the 
Southern Hemisphere's winter months of June and July when the 
World Cup takes place. 
 
------------------------ 
LOBBYING FOR WORLD CUP TEAMS 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The thirty-two teams that will eventually quality 
for the World Cup are expected to select base camps from 
which their teams will stay and practice, which may be inside 
or outside of South Africa. It is unclear if Mozambique will 
be able to attract World Cup teams.  Poor standard of 
training facilities and fields detract from Mozambique. 
Current negotiations are with Portugal, Brazil, Spain and 
South Korea, but will soon focus on smaller countries once 
additional teams qualify later in the year. Brazil is 
expected to select a site in South Africa as its base and 
Portugal might not classify for the tournament. 
 
------------------------ 
BUT WHERE TO STAY AND PRACTICE? 
------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Places for World Cup visitors to stay is 
reportedly one of FIFA's and South Africa's main concerns, 
with expected shortfalls in the availability of South African 
hotel rooms.  Maputo only has about 2,000 mid-to-high end 
rooms, according to World Bank studies, but several new 
hotels are expected to open before the World Cup, and should 
increase the number of rooms if only marginally.  The 
centerpiece of the country's preparations should be the 
Chinese government funded 42,000 seat National Stadium 
currently being constructed outside of Maputo, but delays 
cast doubt on the stadium's completion before the start of 
the World Cup in June 2010. According to the assistant 
director of the construction project, the stadium will now be 
completed five months after the World Cup is over because of 
cost overruns and other delays. Other project managers insist 
it will be completed on time, but Macie indicated doubts. The 
old 30,000 seat Machava Stadium reportedly does not have a 
playing surface up to international standards.  Mozambique is 
also building a new municipal stadium in the Northern city of 
 
MAPUTO 00001236  002 OF 002 
 
 
Pemba, a location where the National Federation of Football 
hopes it can attract a World Cup qualifying team to stay 
because of the pleasant climate and direct flights to 
Johannesburg.  The GRM will probably lobby qualified Middle 
Eastern teams because of Pemba's Muslin demographic. Other 
options include a training camp and soccer field at Namaacha 
near the Swaziland border. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Other World Cup related infrastructure include the 
jointly funded One Stop Border Post with South Africa and 
expanding Maputo International Airport. The border post is 
designed to significantly reduce travel time by co-locating 
South African and Mozambican customs and immigration agents. 
Macie claimed the border post would be complete by March 
2010, but press reports indicate that disputes over funding 
halted construction.  Discussions in South Africa indicate 
the project might be more of a priority for Mozambique. 
Given South African recession caused budget constraints, 
World Cup mandated national projects would come first. 
Despite being shown flashy slides of a state-of-the art 
international airport so far the only construction visible is 
a new cargo terminal being funded by the Chinese. 
 
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USING WORLD CUP TO PROVIDE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL 
BENEFITS 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The National Strategy also implemented Alliance 
2010, a forum for government, local business, media, and 
civil society stakeholders to present and promote 2010 World 
Cup opportunities.  Initiatives include cultural fairs, 
educational events for local tourism operators, and 2010 
awareness campaigns for taxi drivers.  It is unclear how many 
of these initiatives are successfully implemented.  The 
government is also working with UNESCO to set up education 
and cultural programs for 2010 and beyond. 
 
------------------------ 
BEYOND 2010: THE ALL-AFRICA Games 
------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Macie says much of the GRM activities and planning 
will be used as a test-run for the 2011 All-Africa Games to 
be hosted in Maputo. The All-Africa games are a regional 
multi-sport event held every four years where competing 
nations are all from the African continent. 
CHAPMAN